1990 Session 1 YBRA-Princeton field course in at the Stillwater Complex, Montana.

YBRA – My Summer Heart and Home

By Jennifer Lindline

Professor of Geology, Environmental Geology, Environmental Science, and Water Resources
Natural Resources Management Department, New Mexico Highlands University

As the Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association’s 90 year anniversary approaches, I reflect upon my own anniversary with the camp – 36 years! I feel so very blessed for summers spent at YBRA and memories made with others who gathered in Fanshawe Lodge, shared in community meals, and awed at Red Lodge’s geology. The camp is a special place for me as it for thousands of field students, geology researchers, faculty instructors, and camp staff who shared its space and became its legacy.

I am a 1990 graduate of the YBRA-Princeton field course. As a first-generation college student and rising geology senior at Temple University, I applied to Princeton’s program to meet my field geology requirement. My acceptance letter from Dr. William Bonini, the YBRA-Princeton Field Program Director, was a joy. My elation soon gave way to worry. Although I already had a few afternoon geology outings under my belt, field camp was a daunting requirement. Worries about whether I had the academic ability to complete the demanding assignments and the physical stamina to navigate the rugged terrain gnawed at me. Once I arrived at field camp, these doubts were soon assuaged by the shared overwhelm of my fellow students. We all came from sea level. We all had academic doubts. We all had pressures we carried along with goals that we set. But we were in it together.

YBRA field camp fosters togetherness among its students. It develops a sense of belonging and instills a feeling of community. Through shared living spaces, eating quarters, and study halls, YBRA nurtures family and cultivates unity. My peers and I cheered our classmates up the Clark’s Fork Canyon “death march” and helped others learn and hone field skills. We slogged up Grove Creek to map the structures along the Bear Tooth Mountain front and put our hands on the Great Unconformity. We swatted moths in our cabins and took turns in the washroom. We held up the plate for more bacon at breakfast and more casserole at dinner. We burned the midnight oil in the Wadsworth study hall finishing our maps and perfecting our cross-sections. When project grades were returned, we shared the happiness of passing marks and rewards of hard work.

I have served as a Summer Adjunct Instructor for 15+ years at the YBRA camp. For every student I meet, I teach the rich history of the camp along with the remarkable geologic diversity, structural complexity, and deep time recorded in the rocks. I share my personal and professional experiences, from student to professor, and impress upon them what is believable and achievable. They are the next generation of student scholars studying, mapping, and contributing to the understanding of this beautiful and rare geologic region.

YBRA is my summer heart and home. I feel overjoyed when I land at Billings airport, see signs for Red Lodge, approach the Point of Rocks, drive the steep Howel Gulch road, feel the cool mountain air, smell the sage brush, and hear the dinner bell. I am grateful for the opportunity that YBRA has given me to meet people, share perspectives, and experience places. I extend a big Happy Anniversary and an even bigger thank you to YBRA! Your gift to me has been cherished and returned, enriched and rewarded in immeasurable ways.

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Lindline
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